Wicked Hackney

This weekend  Hackney Wicked took over the industrial estate and we headed Wick ways for some free art, music and the general debauchery that comes hand in hand when partying in warehouses...

This was holding my chop sticks for me at the Chinese....

Free London

Since making my merry way down to the capital on 31 December 2009 it has become apparent to me there are lots of opportunities get things for free, if you're looking in the right places. 
Very quickly ditching public transport for my own set of wheels i have become one of those pesky cyclists zipping through traffic without a helmet, headphones in belting out some right tunes. Essentially what i save on my oyster inevitably gets spent on some other necerssary luxury, a beer here and there, a set a snazzy new felt tips etc. The kind of Free London i'm refering to is the ability to get people to pass over products for ziltch just because they like the look of you. Now i have no idea how i get people to do this, it's a talent i've been nurturing for some time now but i feel i need to record and share my lucky strikes however large or small they maybe. So here we go...

I work near Embankment Station and everyday i have to pass through the terrace area of Gorden's Wine Bar to get home. My lack of friends at work has encouraged me to branch out and befriend the local bar tenders. Never a bad thing especially when they INSIST to feed you from the gormet grill and ply you with their finest vino at lunchtime. Now i know what many of you may think, this is underhand flirting to get a free meal. Well i can't completely disagree but it's all part of the Free London adventure.

Tip: Smile and be friendly.

A few weeks ago i was caught up in a horrific flip flop/ cycling accident which involved the vast majority of skin being removed from my big toe on my left foot. Failing to clean it properly and then going for a swim in Hamsted Heath Lake i was surprised to be told by a doctor that it had become grossly infected and was close to turning septicemic. I was shocked to be given a £15.40 bill for anitbiotics and pain killers, begrudgingly i tried to pay with my card but was told to hand over the prescription and go get out some cash. By the time i hobbled the 200m to the closest atm and return to the dipensory, the shutters had decsended and i grabbed my white paper back full of pills and made a very slow dash for it.

Tip: Get your drugs from a hospital pharmacy because they don't have a clue who has paid and who hasn't.

Following on from the toe story i was becoming increasing alarmed as the infection would not clear up, the antibiotics just weren't doing the job. However i had failed to grasp the importance of cleaning said toe everyday and replacing the dressing, all of this requiring me to spend way too much time in Boots and Superdrug. Becoming a regular face in Charing Cross Boots, the staff took pity on me and started giving me their anticeptic wipes and dressings straight from their own First Aid kits. One employee said 'Why should you keep having to pay for all this crap when we can just give it to you for free?' I recommended him as Employee of the Month to his manager.

Tip: Build a relationship with the staff, don't be afraid to show them your vulnerable side as the pity often transpires into free gifts.

Now this is a biggy and some may consider it morally questionable but i'm going to share it with you because i think it is important to understand the balance between something that is free and theft. 

I had my lovely bicycle stolen from me in May, chained up outside my workplace, some bugger snipped the chain and made away with my wheels. Distraught i have never fully recovered but i bought a new one off gumtree and learnt that these are the consquences of living in such a society. 

I recieved a telephone call from one PC Bloggs a few weeks back, asking if i had had a blue bike stolen in May and enquired of it's details. I passed over this information and he felt he had a match. Overjoyed i bombed upto Islington police station, heart pumping, tears in my eyes, dreaming about my reunion with Betty (name of bike stolen). A big grin on my face a shook the policemans hand and told him how happy i was that he had found my bike. The thief had been caught with a stolen motorbike and had a bunch of bicycles in his garage... this was to be one of them....

We passed throught the station, out to the 'bike lockup'. There were bikes everywhere, as far as the eye could register, racers, mountian bikes, so many colours. 

'Here you go, is this the one then?' PC Bloggs indicated to a blue bike... a man's bike, a different model, different wheels, different blue...

My heart sank but i managed to maintain the cheshire grin on my face. 

I had to make a decision in a split second.

Should i confess that unfortunately this was not my bicycle. Mine was a girls frame, smaller, grey/blue. 

However as i stood there a memory flashed up in mind from way back when an old bike of mine had been stolen in Nottingham. Upon reporting the theft of my bike, the Chief Constable looked me square in the face and said wryly 'It's just a redistribution of wealth missy, don't think your getting that back, case closed'.

So decision made, i took a deep breath and confirmed that yes this was my bike and thank you Mr Policeman for recovering it for me, i was so happy to be reunited with it! 

He delivered it to me at work the next day and i thanked him for all of his help and was left with two bikes.

Tip: Live your life using Utilitarian ethics where appropriate, that bike needed a good home and i could provide for it.